Middletown native and major league baseball pitcher Bill Danahy walks with his guide dog Kane while taking a refresher course at Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation Thursday. Denehy lost his eyesight as a result of repeated doses of cortisone injections by team doctors to treat an arm injury from...

Middletown native and major league baseball pitcher Bill Danahy walks with his guide dog Kane while taking a refresher course at Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation Thursday. Denehy lost his eyesight as a result of repeated doses of cortisone injections by team doctors to treat an arm injury from... (MICHAEL McANDREWS / Hartford Courant)

BLOOMFIELD — Bill Denehy's photograph was once side-by-side with future hall of fame pitcher Tom Seaver on a baseball card featuring two of the New York Mets most promising rookies.

Now, almost 40 years later, any photo of Denehy is likely to include Kane, his 2-year-old German Shepherd guide dog.

Denehy, a Middletown native who played for three major league teams and coached baseball for the University of Hartford has shadow vision. He can make out some shapes close up, but not at any distance. And his eyesight will continue to deteriorate.

On Thursday, Denehy and Kane were at the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation in Bloomfield, which trained Kane and matched him with Denehy. They came back for a refresher course.

"If there is a fault it's with me," said Denehy, 68. "I let too many people pet him when he's working. Kids and women — he's a chick magnet."

Denehy's vision problems began in 2005 when he was living and working in Orlando, Fla. In January of that year he lost sight in his right eye. Then in August he started having trouble with his left eye.

Doctors traced the cause of his deteriorating vision to cortisone injections he received during his playing days to enable him to pitch through arm and shoulder pain.

"We traced it back to starting in '67," he said. "I had 57 shots of cortisone in 26 months."

By 2012, his vision had gotten so bad that he could no longer drive. Denehy was told he could get a walking cane or a guide dog to assist him.

Denehy did some research and discovered Fidelco, which is only 15 minutes from where he once coached former major league MVP Jeff Bagwell at the University of Hartford.

Denehy liked Fidelco for several reasons. They bred shepherds exclusively and were willing to come to him in Florida. The organization visited him to fit him for the dog, measuring his gait and speed and observing his lifestyle.

Denehy said it gave him the same special kind of feeling he had when he signed with the Mets in 1964 and spent some of his bonus money on a custom Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible.

"He was going to a partner, not just as a guide dog," said Denehy, who last year wrote an autobiography titled "Rage." The book chronicles his ups and downs, from parochial school in Middletown to professional baseball and beyond, including his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction and anger management.

Denehy was told it would take four months to match him with a dog and he began counting the days.

Julie Unwin, Fidelco's chief operating officer, said it takes two years and 15,000 hours of training to prepare a guide dog for a job that it will probably do for 10 years. Fidelco also offers around-the-clock assistance and makes an annual visit to each client for an assessment. It costs $45,000 to produce a guide dog, which is provided at no cost to the client. The organization relies on donors and volunteers to pay for its services, Unwin said.

Denehy and Kane have been together since December, going shopping and walking five times a day for exercise when Kane is in the harness and working. And when Kane isn't, Denehy said, he likes to eat, sleep and play with his toys, especially his squeaky football.

"He has been absolutely fantastic," Denehy said. "It's given me the confidence to go anywhere. I take him everywhere."

That includes the 50th reunion of his graduating class from Woodrow Wilson High School in Middletown this weekend, where three days of events have been planned.

Denehy said that without Kane, he probably wouldn't have gone, even though he's sure his fomer classmates would be willing to help him get around.

"There's a sense of pride," he said. "Being with him is more like doing things on my own."